PART 1 Gist
Chapter 11: Nonfiction as Literature
Writers should not be misled by the false idea that nonfiction is inferior to novels. In fact, nonfiction has become the new American literature and is closer to people's life. For those who are learning to write, nonfiction is a more suitable and comfortable genre.
Chapter 12: Writing about People: The Interview
Writers can animate their writing by adding human elements into their work. They should master the skills of conducting an interview. Zinsser gave several tips in this regard. He suggested that writers should choose interviewees who touch some corner of the readers' life and they should keep their notebook out of sight until they need it. Although juggling and eliding is inevitable, they should never fabricate quotes or surmise what their interviewees might have said.
PART 2 Expressions
1. I think we should banish all further mention of the words "literature" and "literary" and "literati".
banish: 1. 放流；放逐 SYN exile; 2. to not allow sb or sth to stay in a particular place; 3. to try to stop thinking about sth or sb
I was banished to be a distant corridor.
banish the memory/ thought/ image etc (of sb/ sth)
They tried to banish the memory from their minds.
2. We explained that these were writers we admired for their ability to harness the issues and concerns of the day.
harness: 原意是給馬套鞍具谱煤；引申為 to control and use the natural force or power of sth 利用或控制
We can harness the power of the wind to generate electricity.
3. Those of us who are trying to write well about the world we live in, or tp teach students to write well about the world they live in, or to teach students to write well about the world they live in, are caught in a time warp.
time warp: （n.）(科幻中的)時(shí)間錯(cuò)位
be caught/ locked/ stuck in a time warp: to have not changed even though everyone or everything else has
The house seemed to be stuck in a 19th-century time warp.
4. That was the high tide of "literature".
Magazines were swept along on the same tide.
tide這里指 the way in which events or people's opinions are developing
With the tide of public opinion against him, the president may lose.
The tide of battle turned against the Mexican army.
swim with/ against the tide: support or oppose what most people think
5. You will quail at the prospect of keeping your readers, or even yourself, awake.
quail: (n.) 鵪鶉钝尸； (v.) to be afraid and show it by shaking a little bit or moving back slightly SYN shrink
She quailed visibly at the sight of the prison walls.
6. The whole building turned out to be just such a mixture of scholars and searchers and crackpots.
crackpot: 怪人郁惜；狂人 someone who is slightly crazy
But in his time, a lot of people thought that Christopher Columbus was a crackpot.
7. It subsisted on the whims of a capricious public.
subsist: (v.) (靠很少的錢或食物)維持生活?
We had to subsist on bread and water.
Old people often have to subsist on very low incomes.
8. They have the sound of spontaneity, the refreshing absence of a writer hovering over the product and burnishing it to a high gloss.
burnish: 擦亮(金屬)俯逾； 磨光模捂； to work hard in order to improve sth
He missed no opportunity to burnish his image.
gloss: 光彩仲墨；光澤
polish/ shine to a high gloss
The silverware had been polished to a high gloss.
9. When you first heard them they sounded so felicitous that you didn't give them a second thought.
felicitous: [f??l?s?t?s] well-chosen and suitable (措辭等)恰當(dāng)?shù)睦ǖ矗毁N切的
Her prose style is not always felicitous; she tends to repetition.
a felicitous choice of candidate
(o.) infelicitous
10. Finally, don't strain to find synonyms for "he said".
strain: (v.) 拉緊
strain (sth) to do sth/ strain for sth： to try very hard to do sth using all your strength or ability
She was straining to keep her head above the water.
Bill choked and gasped, straining for air.
strain your ears/ eyes: try very hard to hear or see
I strained my ears, listening for any sound in the silence of the cave.
PART 3? Thoughts
If a speaker chooses his words carefully you should make it a point of professional pride to quote him verbatim. Most interviewers are sloppy about this; they think that if they achieve a rough approximation it's good enough. It's not good enough: nobody wants to see himself in print using words or phrases he would never use.
高中時(shí)有一次學(xué)校組織在郊外學(xué)農(nóng)厦瓢，當(dāng)時(shí)正好有武警部隊(duì)在那里訓(xùn)練现使，兵哥哥們空下來的時(shí)候幫我們干農(nóng)活、打掃甚至有去男生寢室?guī)兔ΟB被子旷痕。當(dāng)時(shí)我負(fù)責(zé)寫班里的通訊稿碳锈，學(xué)農(nóng)快結(jié)束的時(shí)候我寫了一篇關(guān)于武警新兵的采訪稿。在采訪前我心里已經(jīng)有了一個(gè)底稿欺抗，關(guān)于他們?nèi)绾纬钥嗄蛣谑厶肌⒂赂覉?jiān)韌的，但是當(dāng)我真正在和他們交談的時(shí)候绞呈，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們每一個(gè)人都有自己的特色和獨(dú)特的故事贸人，這些遠(yuǎn)比概念化的士兵形象要有趣生動得多。最后我在稿子里用了大量兵哥哥們的原話佃声，不加任何修飾艺智，反而打動了學(xué)校宣傳部的編輯給我用了一整版刊登。我并不是想偷懶圾亏，而是真的不覺得有什么話可以更好地去表達(dá)他們的意思十拣，而且我覺得還原他們的故事和語言是對他們最好的尊重。我很喜歡看《魯豫有約》志鹃，我覺得主持人魯豫最可貴的地方是她很少去引導(dǎo)嘉賓朝著某一方向去說一些事夭问，而是更多地作為一個(gè)傾聽者，鼓勵(lì)嘉賓自己去述說自己的故事曹铃，并且給予他們以充分的信任缰趋。我認(rèn)為，一個(gè)好的采訪者應(yīng)該讓被采訪人呈現(xiàn)出最好的狀態(tài)并且讓被采訪者成為主角而不是素材。
